Are you infected by Wander Burst Ads? This page includes a guide on how to remove Wander Burst Ads from Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer and Safari.

You have been infected with Wander Burst Ads. This is a virus being widely regarded as an adware. We will start by explaining what that is and also answer the question that is most likely occupying your mind right now in addition to “how to remove this” – “how did I get infected?”. This is a malware program easily recognizable by the numerous pop-up windows with advertisements that are bound to overload your desktop any time you decide to use your browser. Most experts in the field agree that Wander Burst Ads is less dangerous than other types of viruses, yet said experts are also quick to point out that we need to get rid of this threat quickly and entirely. The reason for this is the ads are a way for the virus to try and trick you into installing more and increasingly dangerous malware. We are explaining this in debt in our removal guide, please take notice.

Another thing you should note, are the side effects that most commonly come with adware like Wander Burst Ads. These are:

A general sluggishness of the entire system, and an increase in loading times. This is primarily because the advertisements generated by the virus are actually created by your PC and imposed on the websites – that’s the reason the ads can’t really be “turned off.” This whole thing takes a toll on your CPU, hence the slowness.

Occasional freezing and maybe even a complete block of the system (the famous blue or black screen) especially on older machines.

Stuttering and lagging while playing music.

These should all pass when you remove Wander Burst Ads.

How did I get infected?

A fair question. Wander Burst Ads and similar types of malware come bundled together with other and most often legitimate but free software. Let’s be honest here – we all enjoy free programs and most of us have at least some installed onto our hard drives. There are some dangers here though – for this software to be free often the developers are inclined to let different types of additional software to come together with their creation’s installation package. Most of the time these programs are just annoying but sometimes they might be dangerous, as in the case with Wander Burst Ads. The only way for you to be safe is to review carefully what exactly you are going to install and if a mistake takes place, do your best to try and remove the unwanted software.

Take a quick look at the EULA for Wander Burst Ads for example. It clearly states that you will be receiving affiliated third-party advertisements, and I can bet that there was the same disclaimer if you installed something infected. For that reason my recommendation is to always review each installation step of any setup, regardless if we are talking about free programs or not. There are all sorts of hidden “presents” even legitimate companies may try to latch onto you. To expand further on this, alwayschoose Advanced/Custom Install or check any dropdown menus for the things you will receive, as Recommended/Express Install will always include everything in the package, even the things you definitely don’t want. One thing is for sure though – Wander Burst Ads can’t just waltz in or use brute force – it has to “sneak” in if you will.

Remove Wander Burst Ads

READER BEWARE! READ THIS!

Now, before we proceed with instructions on how to remove Wander Burst Ads, consider this – virus creators pay attention to guides and instructions how the user could remove their creation. This means they apply small changes from time to time so it is harder for us (and you) to remove it by using universal methods. This means the virus may have different “versions” and these versions may need slightly differing removal methods. Often some users can encounter the virus while in safe mode but others cannot. For those who are unable to – don’t worry, just revert to “normal” windows mode.

Take your time to review each step of our guide and if you don’t see what we are describing, just continue with the next step. Also let us know if you have questions or unresolved problems in the comments section.

STEP 1:

Our first step here is a reboot in Safe Mode. If you already know how to do it, just skip this and proceed to Step 2. If you do not know how to do it, continue reading:

For Windows 98, XP, Millenium and 7 Users:

Restart your computer. To be sure you don’t miss the time when you need to press it, just spamF8 as soon as the PC starts booting. In the new menu, choose Safe Mode With Networking.

It is a safe bet that the virus has spread to ALL your browsers. You will need to replicate each step of our removal guide for each of your infected browsers. Before you start though, be sure to read this section in its entirety, the reason being Wander Burst Ads is widely known for trying to trick users into allowing access to more viruses. We would like to provide for you a list of the different possible deceits that you might have been subjected to and if you were at some point duped – do not despair but try to remember what was installed so you can remove it with our help.

Here we go:

You will encounter pop up messages informing you that you need to apply a critical update for Windows. Do not click on any such “warnings”, this is just a way to make you visit a site that will infect you with more malware.

You will notice messages urging you to apply updates for some of your favorite programs – for some reason Adobe products are often used as the pretext. Again – do not install from unknown sources.

When redirected to an unknown website, leave as soon as possible and do not share any personal information.

If you are prompted to install any kind of program (.exe extension) or anything similar, leave immediately and try your best not to click on the pop-up windows.

For Internet Explorer Users:

Open IE, then click —–> Manage Add-ons.

Find Wander Burst Ads . Disable it.

If your Home Page is different from the usual, click —–> Internet Options>edit the URL box with your preferred search engine, and click Apply.

For Mozilla Firefox Users:

Open Firefox, click on (top right) ——-> Add-ons.

.

Hit Extensions next.

Wander Burst Ads should be somewhere around here – Remove it.

Next, type about:config on the web page address bar. A message will tell you that you need to be careful. Agree and say OK. Directly below the address bar, there is a search bar. Type in it Wander Burst Ads. Any entries that Mozilla finds with the term need to be reset to their defaults by right clicking and choosing the Reset option.

Open Safari, and clickSafari —–>Preferences —–> Extensions—–>Uninstall the malware.

STEP 3:

Right click on the browser’s shortcut, then click Properties.

NOTE: Below, we are showing Google Chrome, but the method is the same for all browsers.

Once you’ve reached Properties —–> Shortcut (on the band at the top), then in the Target type field, you should REMOVE EVERYTHING AFTER .exe.

STEP 4:

(Works for Windows XP, 7, 8, 8.1)

Hold and R together. Write appwiz.cpl in the new field, then clickOK.

You are now in the Control Panel. Search around for Wander Burst Ads and anything else suspicious-looking. Uninstall it/them. Also, be extremely careful. Viruses often spend one last ditch effort to trick you into installing more of their kind. If you see a screen like this when you click Uninstall, choose NO:

Hold and R again – butthis time copy +paste the following and click OK:

notepad %windir%/system32/Drivers/etc/hosts

A .txt file will open – don’t touch anything there. If you are hacked and someone has access to your PC, there will be a bunch of other IPs connected to you at the bottom. This is what hosts file looks like:

If there is anything connecting to you below “Localhost” you may be hacked, and it’s best to ask us in the comments for directions.

STEP 4:

This is perhaps the most important and difficult step, so be extremely careful. Open the Task Managerby right clicking on the Taskbar and choosing Start Task Manager.

Once it opens, choose the Processes Tab. Look at all of the processes in front of you and try to determine which ones are a virus. Google them or ask us in the comments and we will provide the best assistance we can. If the virus returns later on, the reason is that you missed something here. However, we should warn you – doing this can be extremely risky, so the best course is to seek assistance from us.

A BIG WARNING HERE! We have some bad news for you. This is the type of virus that is reported to track and store your user names and passwords. It will store this information on a file and send this file to the virus creator at some point in the future. It is safe to say that it is matter of days and not minutes or hours. And that is the good news. After you are done removing the virus from all of your browsers, please make sure and change your passwords, especially the ones pertinent to important information.

Known files and processes related to this virus:

plugincontainer.exe

updater.exe

setup.exe

plugincontainer.bak

39.0.0.dll

38.0.5.dll

34.0.5.dll

Where exactly all of these lurk is anyone’s guess. I suggest you do what we recommended with the Task Manager anyway – there’s no guarantee we didn’t miss something.

Right click on each of the virus processes separately and select Open File Location. Also, End the process after you open the folder. Just to make sure we don’t delete any programs you mistakenly took for a virus, copy the folders somewhere, then delete the directories you were sent to.

STEP 5:

Take a look at the following things:

Type msconfig in the search field and hit enter: you will be transported to a new window.

Go in the Startup tab and Uncheck anything that has “unknown” as Manufacturer.

Type Regedit in the windows search field and press Enter.

Once inside, press CTRL and F together and type the virus’s Name. Right click and delete any entries you find with a similar name. Alternatively, if you can’t find any this way, look in these directories, and delete the registries manually:

We’ve prepared a short and sweet optimization guide, specifically designed for users who just removed a virus. It is completely free, you do not need to download anything, and it’s not very time consuming. If you are interested – How To Remove Guide’s Optimization Tips.